F I R S T J O H N.

CHAP. V.

In this chapter the apostle asserts, I. The
dignity of believers, ver.
1. II. Their obligation to love, and the trial of it,
ver. 1-3. III. Their
victory, ver. 4, 5. IV.
The credibility and confirmation of their faith, ver. 6-10. V. The advantage of their faith
in eternal life, ver.
11-13. VI. The audience of their prayers, unless for
those who have sinned unto death, ver. 14-17. VII. The preservation from sin
and Satan, ver. 18. VIII.
Their happy distinction from the world, ver. 19. IX. Their true knowledge of God
(ver. 20), upon which they
must depart from idols, ver.
21.

Love and Faith. (a.
d. 80.)

1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him
also that is begotten of him. 2 By this we know that we love
the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4 For
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that
Jesus is the Son of God?

I. The apostle having, in the conclusion of
the last chapter, as was there observed, urged Christian love upon
those two accounts, as suitable to Christian profession and as
suitable to the divine command, here adds a third: Such love is
suitable, and indeed demanded, by their eminent relation; our
Christian brethren or fellow-believers are nearly related to God;
they are his children: Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the
Christ is born of God, v.
1. Here the Christian brother is, 1. Described by his
faith; he that believeth that Jesus is the Christ—that he
is Messiah the prince, that he is the Son of God by nature and
office, that he is the chief of all the anointed world, chief of
all the priests, prophets, or kings, who were ever anointed by God
or for him, that he is perfectly prepared and furnished for the
whole work of the eternal salvation-accordingly yields himself up
to his care and direction; and then he is, 2. Dignified by his
descent: He is born of God, v. 1. This principle of faith, and the
new nature that attends it or from which it springs, are
ingenerated by the Spirit of God; and so sonship and adoption are
not now appropriated to the seed of Abraham according to the
flesh, not to the ancient Israel of God; all believers, though
by nature sinners of the Gentiles, are spiritually descended from
God, and accordingly are to be beloved; as it is added: Every
one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of
him, v. 1. It
seems but natural that he who loves the Father should love the
children also, and that in some proportion to their resemblance to
their Father and to the Father's love to them; and so we must first
and principally love the Son of the Father, as he is most
emphatically styled, 2 John
3, the only (necessarily) begotten, and
the Son of his love, and then those that are voluntarily
begotten, and renewed by the Spirit of grace.

II. The apostle shows, 1. How we may
discern the truth, or the true evangelical nature of our love to
the regenerate. The ground of it must be our love to God, whose
they are: By this we know that we love the children of God, when
we love God, v.
2. Our love to them appears to be sound and genuine when
we love them not merely upon any secular account, as because they
are rich, or learned, or kind to us, or of our denomination among
religious parties; but because they are God's children, his
regenerating grace appears in them, his image and superscription
are upon them, and so in them God himself is loved. Thus we see
what that love to the brethren is that is so pressed in this
epistle; it is love to them as the children of God and the adopted
brethren of the Lord Jesus. 2. How we may learn the truth of our
love to God—it appears in our holy obedience: When we love God,
and keep his commandments, v. 2. Then we truly, and in gospel
account, love God, when we keep his commandments: For this is
the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and the keeping
of his commandments requires a spirit inclined thereto and
delighting herein; and so his commandments are not grievous,v. 3. Or, This is
the love of God, that, as thereby we are determined to
obedience, and to keep the commandments of God, so his commandments
are thereby made easy and pleasant to us. The lover of God says,
"O how I love thy law! I will run the way of thy commandments,
when thou shalt enlarge my heart (Ps. cxix. 32), when thou shalt enlarge it
either with love or with thy Spirit, the spring of love." 3. What
is and ought to be the result and effect of regeneration—an
intellectual spiritual conquest of this world: For
whatsoever is born of God, or, as in some copies, whosoever
is born of God, overcometh the world, v. 4. He that is born of God is born
for God, and consequently for another world. He has a temper
and disposition that tend to a higher and better world; and he is
furnished with such arms, or such a weapon, whereby he can repel
and conquer this; as it is added, And this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith, v. 4. Faith is the cause of victory,
the means, the instrument, the spiritual armour and artillery by
which we overcome; for, (1.) In and by faith we cleave to Christ,
in contempt of, and opposition to, the world. (2.) Faith works in
and by love to God and Christ, and so withdraws us from the love of
the world. (3.) Faith sanctifies the heart, and purifies it from
those sensual lusts by which the world obtains such sway and
dominion over souls. (4.) It receives and derives strength from the
object of it, the Son of God, for conquering the frowns and
flatteries of the world. (5.) It obtains by gospel promise a right
to the indwelling Spirit of grace, that is greater than he who
dwells in the world. (6.) It sees an invisible world at hand, with
which this world is not worthy to be compared, and into which it
tells the soul in which it resides it must be continually prepared
to enter; and thereupon,

III. The apostle concludes that it is the
real Christian that is the true conqueror of the world: Who is
he then that overcometh the world, but he that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God? v. 5. It is the world that lies in our
way to heaven, and is the great impediment to our entrance there.
But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God believes therein
that Jesus Came from God to be the Saviour of the world, and
powerfully to conduct us from the world to heaven, and to God, who
is fully to be enjoyed there. And he who so believes must needs by
this faith overcome the world. For, 1. He must be well satisfied
that this world is a vehement enemy to his soul, to his holiness,
his salvation, and his blessedness. For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world, ch. ii. 16. 2. He sees it must
be a great part of the Saviour's work, and of his own salvation, to
be redeemed and rescued from this malignant world. Who gave
himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present
evil world, Gal. i. 4. 3.
He sees in and by the life and conduct of the Lord Jesus on earth
that this world is to be renounced and overcome. 4. He perceives
that the Lord Jesus conquered the world, not for himself only, but
for his followers; and they must study to be partakers of his
victory. Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. 5. He
is taught and influenced by the Lord Jesus's death to be mortified
and crucified to the world. God forbid that I should glory, save
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified to me, and I unto the world, Gal. vi. 14. 6. He is begotten by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to the lively hope of a
blessed world above, 1 Pet. i.
3. 7. He knows that the Saviour has gone to heaven, and
is there preparing a place for his serious believers, John xiv. 2. 8. He knows that his
Saviour will come again thence, and will put an end to this world,
and judge the inhabitants of it, and receive his believers to his
presence and glory, John xiv.
3. 9. He is possessed with a spirit and disposition that
cannot be satisfied with this world, that look beyond it, and are
still tending, striving, and pressing, towards the world in heaven.
In this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our
house which is from heaven, 2 Cor.
v. 2. So that it is the Christian religion that affords
its proselytes a universal empire. It is the Christian revelation
that is the great means of conquering the world, and gaining
another that is most pure and peaceful, blessed and eternal. It is
there, in that revelation, that we see what are the occasion and
ground of the quarrel and contest between the holy God and this
rebellious world. It is there that we meet with sacred doctrine
(both speculative and practical), quite contrary to the tenour,
temper, and tendency of this world. It is by that doctrine that a
spirit is communicated and diffused which is superior and adverse
to the spirit of the world. It is there we see that the Saviour
himself was not of this world that his kingdom was not and is not
so, that it must be separated from the world and gathered out of it
for heaven and for God. There we see that the Saviour designs not
this world for the inheritance and portion of his saved company. As
he has gone to heaven himself, so he assures them he goes to
prepare for their residence there, as designing they should always
dwell with him, and allowing them to believe that if in this life,
and this world only, they had hope in him, they should at last be
but miserable. It is there that the eternal blessed world is most
clearly revealed and proposed to our affection and pursuit. It is
there that we are furnished with the best arms and artillery
against the assaults and attempts of the world. It is there that we
are taught how the world may be out-shot in its own bow, or its
artillery turned against itself; and its oppositions, encounters,
and persecutions, be made serviceable to our conquest of the world,
and to our motion and ascent to the higher heavenly world: and
there we are encouraged by a whole army and cloud of holy soldiers,
who have in their several ages, posts, and stations, overcome the
world, and won the crown. It is the real Christian that is the
proper hero, who vanquishes the world and rejoices in a universal
victory. Nor does he (for he is far superior to the Grecian
monarch) mourn that there is not another world to be subdued, but
lays hold on the eternal world of life, and in a sacred sense takes
the kingdom of heaven by violence too. Who in all the world but the
believer on Jesus Christ can thus overcome the world?

The Witnesses in Heaven and on
Earth. (a.
d. 80.)

6 This is he that came by water and blood,
even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and
blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the
Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three
are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth,
the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in
one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God
is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified
of his Son.

The faith of the Christian believer (or the
believer in Christ) being thus mighty and victorious, it had need
to be well founded, to be furnished with unquestionable celestial
evidence concerning the divine mission, authority, and office of
the Lord Jesus; and it is so; he brings his credentials along with
him, and he brings them in a way by which he came and in the
witness that attends him.

I. In the way and manner by which he came;
not barely by which he came into the world, but by and with which
he came, and appeared, and acted, as a Saviour in the world:
This is he that came by water and blood. He came to save us
from our sins, to give us eternal life, and bring us to God; and,
that he might the more assuredly do this, he came by, or
with, water and blood. Even Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ, I
say, did so; and none but he. And I say it again, not by or with
water only, but by and with water and blood,v. 6. Jesus Christ
came with water and blood, as the notes and signatures of the
true effectual Saviour of the world; and he came by water and blood
as the means by which he would heal and save us. That he must and
did thus come in his saving office may appear by our remembering
these things:—

1. We are inwardly and outwardly defiled.
(1.) Inwardly, by the power and pollution off sin and in our
nature. For our cleansing from this we need spiritual water; such
as can reach the soul and the powers of it. Accordingly, there is
in and by Christ Jesus the washing of regeneration and the
renewing of the Holy Ghost. And this was intimated to the
apostles by our Lord, when he washed their feet, and said to Peter,
who refused to be washed, Except I wash thee, thou hast no part
in me. (2.) We are defiled outwardly, by the guilt and
condemning power of sin upon our persons. By this we are separated
from God, and banished from his favourable, gracious, beatific
presence for ever. From this we must be purged by atoning blood. It
is the law or determination in the court of heaven that without
shedding of blood there shall be no remission, Heb. ix. 22. The Saviour from sin
therefore must come with blood.

2. Both these ways of cleansing were
represented in the old ceremonial institutions of God. Persons and
things must be purified by water and blood. There were divers
washings and carnal ordinances imposed till the time of
reformation, Heb. ix.
10. The ashes of a heifer, mixed with water,
sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the
flesh, Heb. ix. 13; Num.
xix. 9. And likewise almost all things are, by the
law, purged with blood, Heb. ix.
22. As those show us our double defilement, so they
indicate the Saviour's two-fold purgation.

3. At and upon the death of Jesus Christ,
his side being pierced with a soldier's spear, out of the wound
there immediately issued water and blood. This the beloved apostle
saw, and he seems to have been affected with the sight; he alone
records it, and seems to reckon himself obliged to record it, and
seems to reckon himself obliged to record it, as containing
something mysterious in it: And he that saw it bore record, and
his record is true. And he knoweth, being an eye-witness,
that he saith true, that you might believe, and that you
might believe this particularly, that out of his pierced side
forthwith there came water and blood, John xix. 34, 35. Now this water and
blood are comprehensive of all that is necessary and effectual to
our salvation. By the water our souls are washed and purified for
heaven and the region of saints in light. By the blood God is
glorified, his law is honoured, and his vindictive excellences are
illustrated and displayed. Whom God hath set forth, or
purposed, or proposed, a propitiation through faith in his
blood, or a propitiation in or by his blood through faith,
to declare his righteousness, that he may be just, and the
justifier of him that believeth in Jesus, Rom. iii. 25, 26. By the blood we are
justified, reconciled, and presented righteous to God. By the
blood, the curse of the law being satisfied, and purifying Spirit
is obtained for the internal ablution of our natures. Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, that the blessing of
Abraham might come on the Gentiles, that we might receive the
promise of the Spirit, the promised Spirit, through
faith, Gal. iii. 13,
&c. The water, as well as the blood, issued out of the side of
the sacrificed Redeemer. The water and the blood then comprehend
all things that can be requisite to our salvation. They will
consecrate and sanctify to that purpose all that God shall appoint
or make use of in order to that great end. He loved the church,
and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to
himself a glorious church, Eph.
v. 25-27. He who comes by water and blood is an accurate
perfect Saviour. And this is he who comes by water and blood, even
Jesus Christ! Thus we see in what way and manner, or, if you
please, with what utensils, he comes. But we see his credentials
also,

II. In the witness that attends him, and
that is, the divine Spirit, that Spirit to whom the perfecting of
the works of God is usually attributed: And it is the Spirit
that beareth witness, v.
6. It was meet that the commissioned Saviour of the
world should have a constant agent to support his work, and testify
of him to the world. It was meet that a divine power should attend
him, his gospel, and servants; and notify to the world upon what
errand and office they came, and by what authority they were sent:
this was done in and by the Spirit of God, according to the
Saviour's own prediction, "He shall glorify me, even when I
shall be rejected and crucified by men, for he shall receive
or take of mine. He shall not receive my immediate office;
he shall not die and rise again for you; but he shall receive of
mine, shall proceed on the foundation I have laid, shall take
up my institution, and truth, and cause, and shall further
show it unto you, and by you to the world," John xvi. 14. And then the apostle
adds the commendation or the acceptableness of this witness:
Because the Spirit is truth, v. 6. He is the Spirit of God, and
cannot lie. There is a copy that would afford us a very suitable
reading thus: because, or that, Christ is the truth.
And so it indicates the matter of the Spirit's testimony, the thing
which he attests, and that is, the truth of Christ: And it is
the Spirit that beareth witness that Christ is the truth; and
consequently that Christianity, or the Christian religion, is the
truth of the day, the truth of God. But it is meet that one or two
copies should alter the text; and our present reading is very
agreeable, and so we retain it. The Spirit is truth. He is
indeed the Spirit of truth, John xiv.
17. And that the Spirit is truth, and a witness worthy
of all acceptation, appears in that he is a heavenly witness, or
one of the witnesses that in and from heaven bore testimony
concerning the truth and authority of Christ. Because (or
for) there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And so
v. 7 most appositely
occurs, as a proof of the authenticity of the Spirit's testimony;
he must needs be true, or even truth itself, if he be not only a
witness in heaven, but even one (not in testimony only, for
so an angel may be, but in being and essence) with the Father
and the Word. But here,

1. We are stopped in our course by the
contest there is about the genuineness of v. 7. It is alleged that many old Greek
manuscripts have it not. We shall not here enter into the
controversy. It should seem that the critics are not agreed what
manuscripts have it and what not; nor do they sufficiently inform
us of the integrity and value of the manuscripts they peruse. Some
may be so faulty, as I have an old printed Greek Testament so full
of errata, that one would think no critic would establish a
various lection thereupon. But let the judicious collators of
copies manage that business. There are some rational surmises that
seem to support the present text and reading. As,

(1.) If we admit v. 8, in the room of v. 7, it looks too like a tautology and
repetition of what was included in v. 6, This is he that came by water
and blood, not by water only, but by water and blood; and it is the
Spirit that beareth witness. For there are three that bear witness,
the Spirit, the water, and the blood. This does not assign near
so noble an introduction of these three witnesses as our present
reading does.

(2.) It is observed that many copies read
that distinctive clause, upon the earth: There are three that
bear record upon the earth. Now this bears a visible opposition
to some witness or witnesses elsewhere, and therefore we are told,
by the adversaries of the text, that this clause must be supposed
to be omitted in most books that want v. 7. But it should for the same reason
be so in all. Take we v.
6, This is he that came by water and blood. And it is
the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
It would not now naturally and properly be added, For there are
three that bear record on earth, unless we should suppose that
the apostle would tell us that all the witnesses are such as are on
earth, when yet he would assure us that one is infallibly true, or
even truth itself.

(3.) It is observed that there is a variety
of reading even in the Greek text, as in v. 7. Some copies read hen
eisi—are one; others (at least the
Complutensian) eis to hen eisin—are to
one, or agree in one; and in v. 8 (in that part that it is supposed
should be admitted), instead of the common en te
ge—in earth, the Complutensian reads epi tes
ges—upon earth, which seems to show that that
edition depended upon some Greek authority, and not merely, as some
would have us believe, upon the authority either of the vulgar
Latin or of Thomas Aquinas, though his testimony may be
added thereto.

(4.) The seventh verse is very agreeable to the style
and the theology of our apostle; as, [1.] He delights in the title
the Father, whether he indicates thereby God only, or a
divine person distinguished from the Son. I and the Father
are one. And Yet I am not alone; because the Father is
with me. I will pray the Father, and he shall give you
another comforter. If any man love the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. Grace be with you, and peace from God
the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the
Father, 2 John 3. Then, [2.]
The name the Word is known to be almost (if not quite)
peculiar to this apostle. Had the text been devised by another, it
had been more easy and obvious, from the form of baptism, and the
common language of the church, to have used the name Son
instead of that of the Word. As it is observed that
Tertullian and Cyprian use that name, even when they refer to this
verse; or it is made an objection against their referring to this
verse, because they speak of the Son, not the Word; and yet
Cyprian's expression seems to be very clear by the citation of
Facundus himself. Quod Johannis apostoli testimonium beatus
Cyprianus, Carthaginensis antistes et martyr, in epistolâ sive
libro, quem de Trinitate scripsit, de Patre, Filio, et Spiritu
sancto dictum intelligit; ait enim, Dicit Dominus, Ego et Pater
unum sumus; et iterum de Patre, Filio, et Spiritu sancto scriptum
est, Et hi tres unum sunt.—Blessed Cyprian, the Carthaginian
bishop and martyr, in the epistle or book he wrote concerning the
Trinity, considered the testimony of the apostle John as relating
to the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit; for he says, the Lord
says, I and the Father are one; and again, of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit it is written, And these three are one. Now
it is nowhere written that these are one, but in v. 7. It is probable than that St.
Cyprian, either depending on his memory, or rather intending things
more than words, persons more than names, or calling persons by
their names more usual in the church (both in popular and polemic
discourses), called the second by the name of the Son rather
than of the Word. If any man can admit Facundus's fancy,
that Cyprian meant that the Spirit, the water, and the blood, were
indeed the Father, Word, and Spirit, that John said were one, he
may enjoy his opinion to himself. For, First, He must
suppose that Cyprian not only changed all the names, but the
apostle's order too. For the blood (the Son), which Cyprian puts
second, the apostle puts last. And, Secondly, He must
suppose that Cyprian thought that by the blood which issued out of
the side of the Son the apostle intended the Son himself, who might
as well have been denoted by the water,—that by the water, which
also issued from the side of the Son, the apostle intended the
person of the Holy Ghost,—that by the Spirit, which in v. 6 is said to be truth, and
in the gospel is called the Spirit of truth, the apostle meant the
person of the Father, though he is nowhere else so called when
joined with the Son and the Holy Ghost. We require good proof that
the Carthaginian father could so understand the apostle. He
who so understands him must believe too that the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, are said to be three witnesses on earth. Thirdly,
Facundus acknowledges that Cyprian says that of his three it is
written, Et hi tres unum sunt—and these three are one. Now
these are the words, not of v.
8, but of v.
7. They are not used concerning the three on earth, the
Spirit, the water, and the blood; but the three in heaven, the
Father, and the Word, and the Holy Ghost. So we are told that the
author of the book De baptismo hæreticorum, allowed to be
contemporary with Cyprian, cites John's words, agreeably to the
Greek manuscripts and the ancient versions, thus: Ait enim
Johannes de Domino nostro in epistolâ nos docens, Hic es qui venit
per aquam et sanguinem, Jesus Christus, non in aquâ tantùm, sed in
aquâ et sanguine; et Spiritus est qui testimonium perhibet, quia
Spiritus est veritas; quia tres testimonium perhibent, Spiritus et
aqua et sanguis, et isti tres in unum sunt—For John, in his
epistle, says concerning our Lord, This is he, Jesus Christ, who
came by water and blood, not in water only, but in water and blood;
and it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is
truth; for there are three that bear witness, the Spirit, the
water, and the blood, and these three agree in one. If all the
Greek manuscripts and ancient versions say concerning the Spirit,
the water, and the blood, that in unum sunt—they agree in
one, then it was not of them that Cyprian spoke, whatever
variety there might be in the copies in his time, when he said it
is written, unum sunt—they are one. And therefore Cyprian's
words seem still to be a firm testimony to v. 7, and an intimation likewise that a
forger of the text would have scarcely so exactly hit upon the
apostolical name for the second witness in heaven, the Word.
Them, [3.] As only this apostle records the history of the water
and blood flowing out of the Saviour's side, so it is he only, or
he principally, who registers to us the Saviour's promise and
prediction of the Holy spirit's coming to glorify him, and to
testify of him, and to convince the world of its own unbelief and
of his righteousness, as in his gospel, ch. xiv. 16, 17, 26; xv. 26;
xvi. 7-15. It is most suitable then to the diction and
to the gospel of this apostle thus to mention the Holy Ghost as a
witness for Jesus Christ. Then,

(5.) It was far more easy for a
transcriber, by turning away his eye, or by the obscurity of the
copy, it being obliterated or defaced on the top or bottom of a
page, or worn away in such materials as the ancients had to write
upon, to lose and omit the passage, than for an interpolator to
devise and insert it. He must be very bold and impudent who could
hope to escape detection and shame; and profane too, who durst
venture to make an addition to a supposed sacred book. And,

(6.) It can scarcely be supposed that, when
the apostle is representing the Christian's faith in overcoming the
world, and the foundation it relies upon in adhering to Jesus
Christ, and the various testimony that was attended him, especially
when we consider that he meant to infer, as he does (v. 9), If we receive the
witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this (which
he had rehearsed before) is the witness of God which he hath
testified of his Son. Now in the three witnesses on earth there
is neither all the witness of God, nor indeed any witness who is
truly and immediately God. The antitrinitarian opposers of the text
will deny that either the Spirit, or the water, or the blood, is
God himself; but, upon our present reading, here is a noble
enumeration of the several witnesses and testimonies supporting the
truth of the Lord Jesus and the divinity of his institution. Here
is the most excellent abridgment or breviate of the motives to
faith in Christ, of the credentials the Saviour brings with him,
and of the evidences of our Christianity, that is to be found, I
think, in the book of God, upon which single account, even waiving
the doctrine of the divine Trinity, the text is worthy of all
acceptation.

2. Having these rational grounds on out
side, we proceed. The apostle, having told us that the Spirit that
bears witness to Christ is truth, shows us that he is so, by
assuring us that he is in heaven, and that there are others also
who cannot but be true, or truth itself, concurring in testimony
with him: For there are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one,v. 7.

(1.) Here is a trinity of heavenly
witnesses, such as have testified and vouched to the world the
veracity and authority of the Lord Jesus in his office and claims,
where, [1.] The first that occurs in order is the Father; he
set his seal to the commission of the Lord Christ all the while he
was here; more especially, First, In proclaiming him at his
baptism, Matt. iii. 17.
Secondly, In confirming his character at the
transfiguration, Matt. xvii.
5. Thirdly, In accompanying him with miraculous
power and works: If I do not the works of my Father, believe me
not; but if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works,
that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in
him, John x. 37,
38. Fourthly, In avouching at his death,
Matt. xxvii. 54.
Fifthly, In raising him from the dead, and receiving him up
to his glory: He shall convince the world-of righteousness,
because I go to my Father, and you see me no more, John xvi. 10, and Rom. i. 4.
[2.] The second witness in the Word, a mysterious name, importing
the highest nature that belongs to the Saviour of Jesus Christ,
wherein he existed before the world was, whereby he made the world,
and whereby he was truly God with the Father. He must bear witness
to the human nature, or to the man Christ Jesus, in and by whom he
redeemed and saved us; and he bore witness, First, By the
mighty works that he wrought. John v.
17, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Secondly, In conferring a glory upon him at his
transfiguration. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only-begotten of the Father, John
i. 14. Thirdly, In raising him from the dead.
John ii. 19, Destroy
this temple, and in three days will I raise it up. [3.] The
third witness is the Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit, and august,
venerable name, the possessor, proprietor, and author of holiness.
True and faithful must he be to whom the Spirit of holiness sets
his seal and solemn testimony. So he did to the Lord Jesus, the
head of the Christian world; and that in such instances as these:—
First, In the miraculous production of his immaculate human
nature in the virgin's womb. The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, Luke i. 35,
&c. Secondly, In the visible descent upon him at his
baptism. The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape,Luke iii. 22, &c.
Thirdly, In an effectual conquest of the spirits of hell and
darkness. If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the
kingdom of God has come unto you, Matt. xii. 28. Fourthly, In the
visible potent descent upon the apostles, to furnish them with
gifts and powers to preach him and his gospel to the world after he
himself had gone to heaven, Acts
i. 4, 5; ii. 2-4, &c. Fifthly, In supporting
the name, gospel, and interest of Christ, by miraculous gifts and
operations by and upon the disciples, and in the churches, for two
hundred years (1 Cor. xii.
7), concerning which see Dr. Whitby's excellent
discourse in the preface to the second volume of his Commentary
on the New Testament. These are witnesses in heaven; and they
bear record from heaven; and they are one, it should seem, not only
in testimony (for that is implied in their being three witnesses to
one and the same thing), but upon a higher account, as they are in
heaven; they are one in their heavenly being and essence; and, if
one with the Father, they must be one God.

(2.) To these there is opposed, though with
them joined, a trinity of witnesses on earth, such as continue here
below: And there are three that bear witness on earth, the
spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one,v. 8. [1.] Of these
witnesses the first is the spirit. This must be
distinguished from the person of the Holy Ghost, who is in heaven.
We must say then, with the Saviour (according to what is reported
by this apostle), that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit, John iii. 6. The
disciples of the Saviour are, as well as others, born after the
flesh. They come into the world endued with a corrupt carnal
disposition, which is enmity to God. This disposition must be
mortified and abolished. A new nature must be communicated. Old
lusts and corruptions must be eradicated, and the true disciple
become a new creature. The regeneration or renovation of souls is a
testimony to the Saviour. It is his actual though initial
salvation. It is a testimony on earth, because it continues with
the church here, and is not performed in that conspicuous
astonishing manner in which signs from heaven are accomplished. To
this Spirit belong not only the regeneration and conversion of the
church, but its progressive sanctification, victory over the world,
her peace, and love, and joy, and all that grace by which she is
made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. [2.] The
second is the water. This was before considered as a means
of salvation, now as a testimony to the Saviour himself, and
intimates his purity and purifying power. And so it seems to
comprehend, First, The purity of his own nature and conduct
in the world. He was holy, harmless, and undefiled.
Secondly, The testimony of John's baptism, who bore witness of
him, prepared a people for him, and referred them to him, Mark i. 4, 7, 8. Thirdly,
The purity of his own doctrine, by which souls are purified and
washed. Now you are clean through the word that I have spoken
unto you, John xv. 3.
Fourthly, The actual and active purity and holiness of his
disciples. His body is the holy catholic church. Seeing you have
purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit,1 Pet. i. 22. And this
signed and sealed by, Fifthly, The baptism that he has
appointed for the initiation or introduction of his disciples, in
which he signally (or by that sign) says, Except I wash thee,
thou hast no part in me. Not the putting away of the filth of the
flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God,1 Pet. iii. 21. [3.] The
third witness is the blood; this he shed, and this was our ransom.
This testifies for Jesus Christ, First, In that it sealed up
and finished the sacrifices of the Old Testament, Christ, our
Passover, was sacrificed for us. Secondly, In that it confirmed
his own predictions, and the truth of all his ministry and
doctrine, John xviii. 37.
Thirdly, In that it showed unparalleled love to God, in that
he would die a sacrifice to his honour and glory, in making
atonement for the sins of the world, John xiv. 30, 31. Fourthly, In
that it demonstrated unspeakable love to us; and none will deceive
those whom they entirely love, John xiv. 13-15. Fifthly, In that
it demonstrated the disinterestedness of the Lord Jesus as to any
secular interest and advantage. No impostor and deceiver ever
proposes to himself contempt and a violent cruel death, John xviii. 36. Sixthly, In
that it lays obligation on his disciple to suffer and die for him.
No deceiver would invite proselytes to his side and interest at the
rate that the Lord Jesus did. You shall be hated of all men for
my sake. They shall put you out of their synagogues; and the time
comes that whosoever kills you will think that he doeth God
service, John xvi. 2.
He frequently calls his servants to a conformity with him in
sufferings: Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp,
bearing his reproach, Heb. xiii.
13. This shows that neither he nor his kingdom is of
this world. Seventhly, The benefits accruing and procured by
his blood (well understood) must immediately demonstrate that he is
indeed the Saviour of the world. And then, Eighthly, These
are signified and sealed in the institution of his own supper:
This is my blood of the New Testament (which ratifies the
New Testament), which is shed for many, for the remission of
sins, Matt. xxvi. 28.
Such are the witnesses on earth. Such is the various testimony
given to the author of our religion. No wonder if the rejector of
all this evidence he judged as a blasphemer of the Spirit of God,
and be left to perish without remedy in his sins. These three
witnesses (being more different than the three former) are not so
properly said to be one as to be for one, to be for
one and the same purpose and cause, or to agree in one, in
one and the same thing among themselves, and in the same testimony
with those who bear record from heaven.

III. The apostle justly concludes, If we
receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this
is the witness of God, that he hath testified of his Son,v. 9. Here we have,
1. A supposition well founded upon the premises. Here is the
witness of God, the witness whereby God hath testified of his
Son, which surely must intimate some immediate irrefragable
testimony, and that of the Father concerning his Son; he has by
himself proclaimed and avouched him to the world. 2. The authority
and acceptableness of his testimony; and that argued from the less
to the greater: If we receive the witness of men (and such
testimony is and must be admitted in all judicatories and in all
nations), the witness of God is greater. It is truth itself,
of highest authority and most unquestionable infallibility. And
then there is, 3. The application of the rule to the present case:
For this is the witness, and here is the witness of
God even of the Father, as well as of the Word and Spirit,
which he hath testified of, and wherein he hath attested,
his Son. God, that cannot lie, hath given sufficient
assurance to the world that Jesus Christ is his Son, the Son of his
love, and Son by office, to reconcile and recover the world unto
himself; he testified therefore the truth and divine origin of the
Christian religion, and that it is the sure appointed way and means
of bringing us to God.

The Believer's Privilege. (a.
d. 80.)

10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the
witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar;
because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal
life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son
hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not
life. 13 These things have I written unto you that believe
on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have
eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of
God.

In those words we may observe,

I. The privilege and stability of the real
Christian: He that believeth on the Son of God, hath been
prevailed with unfeignedly to cleave to him for salvation, hath
the witness in himself, v.
10. He hath not only the outward evidence that others
have, but he hath in his own heart a testimony for Jesus Christ. He
can allege what Christ and the truth of Christ have done for his
soul and what he has seen and found in him. As, 1. He has deeply
seen his sin, and guilt, and misery, and his abundant need of such
a Saviour. 2. He has seen the excellency, beauty, and office of the
Son of God, and the incomparable suitableness of such a Saviour to
all his spiritual wants and sorrowful circumstances. 3. He sees and
admires the wisdom and love of God in preparing and sending such a
Saviour to deliver him from sin and hell, and to raise him to
pardon, peace, and communion with God. 4. He has found and felt the
power of the word and doctrine of Christ, wounding, humbling,
healing, quickening, and comforting his soul. 5. He finds that the
revelation of Christ, as it is the greatest discovery and
demonstration of the love of God, so it is the most apt and
powerful means of kindling, fomenting, and inflaming love to the
holy blessed God. 6. He is born of God by the truth of Christ, as
v. 1. He has a new
heart and nature, a new love, disposition, and delight, and is not
the man that formerly he was. 7. He finds yet such a conflict with
himself, with sin, with the flesh, the world, and invisible wicked
powers, as is described and provided for in the doctrine of Christ.
8. He finds such prospects and such strength afforded him by the
faith of Christ, that he can despise and overcome the world, and
travel on towards a better. 9. He finds what interest the Mediator
has in heaven, by the audiency and prevalency of those prayers that
are sent thither in his name, according to his will, and through
his intercession. 10. He is begotten again to a lively hope, to a
holy confidence in God, in his good-will and love, to a pleasant
victory over terrors of conscience, dread of death and hell, to a
comfortable prospect of life and immortality, being enriched with
the earnest of the Spirit and sealed to the day of redemption. Such
assurance has the gospel believer; he has a witness in himself.
Christ is formed in him, and he is growing up to the fulness and
perfection, or perfect image of Christ, in heaven.

II. The aggravation of the unbeliever's
sin, the sin of unbelief: He that believeth not God hath made
him a liar. He does, in effect, give God the lie, because he
believeth not the record that God gave of his Son, v. 10. He must believe that
God did not send his Son into the world, when he has given us such
manifold evidence that he did, or that Jesus Christ was not the Son
of God, when all that evidence relates to and terminates upon him,
or that he sent his Son to deceive the world and to lead it into
error and misery, or that he permits men to devise a religion
which, in all the parts of it, is a pure, holy, heavenly, undefiled
institution, and so worthy to be embraced by the reason of mankind,
and yet is but a delusion and a lie, and then lends them his Spirit
and power to recommend and obtrude it upon the world, which is to
make God the Father, the author and abettor, of the lie.

III. The matter, the substance, or contents
of all this divine testimony concerning Jesus Christ: And this
is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son, v.
11. This is the sum of the gospel. This is the sum and
epitome of the whole record given us by all the aforesaid six
witnesses. 1. That God hath given to us eternal life. He has
designed it for us in his eternal purpose. He has prepared all the
means that are necessary to bring us to it. He has made it over to
us by his covenant and promise. And he actually confers a right and
title thereto on all who believe on and actually embrace the Son of
God. Then, 2. This life is in the Son. The Son is life;
eternal life in his own essence and person, John i. 4; 1 John i. 2. He is eternal
life to us, the spring of our spiritual and glorious life,
Col. iii. 4. From him life
is communicated to us, both here in heaven. And thereupon it must
follow, (1.) He that hath the Son hath life, v. 12. He that is united to
the Son is united to life. He who hath a title to the Son hath a
title to life, to eternal life. Such honour hath the Father put
upon the Son: such honour must we put upon him too. We must come
and kiss the Son, and we shall have life. (2.) He that hath not
the Son of God hath not life, v. 12. He continues under the
condemnation of the law (John iii.
36); he refuses the Son, who is life itself, who is the
procurer of life, and the way to it; he provokes God to deliver him
over to endless death for making him a liar, since he believes not
this record that God hath given concerning his Son.

IV. The end and reason of the apostle's
preaching this to believers. 1. For their satisfaction and comfort:
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of
the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life,v. 13. Upon all this
evidence, and these witnesses, it is but just and meet that there
should be those who believe on the name of the Son of God. God
increase their number! How much testimony from heaven has the world
to answer for! And to three witnesses in heaven must the world be
accountable. These believers have eternal life. They have it in the
covenant of the gospel, in the beginning and first-fruits of it
within them, and in their Lord and head in heaven. These believers
may come to know that they have eternal life, and should be
quickened, encouraged, and comforted, in the prospect of it: and
they should value the scriptures, which are so much written for
their consolation and salvation. 2. For their confirmation and
progress in their holy faith: And that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God (v.
13), may go on believing. Believers must persevere, or
they do nothing. To withdraw from believing on the name of the Son
of God is to renounce eternal life, and draw back unto perdition.
Therefore the evidences of religion and the advantage of faith are
to be presented to believers, in order to hearten and encourage
them to persevere to the end.

The Sin unto Death. (a.
d. 80.)

14 And this is the confidence that we have in
him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth
us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we
know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 16
If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto
death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin
not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he
shall pray for it. 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there
is a sin not unto death.

Here we have,

I. A privilege belonging to faith in
Christ, namely, audience in prayer: This is the confidence that
we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he
heareth us, v.
14. The Lord Christ emboldens us to come to God in all
circumstances, with all our supplications and requests. Through him
our petitions are admitted and accepted of God. The matter of our
prayer must be agreeable to the declared will of God. It is not fit
that we should ask what is contrary either to his majesty and glory
or to our own good, who are his and dependent on him. And then we
may have confidence that the prayer of faith shall be heard in
heaven.

II. The advantage accruing to us by such
privilege: If we know that he heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we
know that we have the petitions that we desired of him,v. 15. Great are the
deliverances, mercies, and blessings, which the holy petitioner
needs. To know that his petitions are heard or accepted is as good
as to know that they are answered; and therefore that he is so
pitied, pardoned, or counselled, sanctified, assisted, and saved
(or shall be so) as he is allowed to ask of God.

III. Direction in prayer in reference to
the sins of others: If any man see his brother sin a sin which
is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for
those that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not
say that he shall pray for it, v. 16. Here we may observe, 1. We
ought to pray for others as well as for ourselves; for our brethren
of mankind, that they may be enlightened, converted, and saved; for
our brethren in the Christian profession, that they may be sincere,
that their sins may be pardoned, and that they may be delivered
from evils and the chastisements of God, and preserved in Christ
Jesus. 2. There is a great distinction in the heinousness and guilt
of sin: There is a sin unto death (v. 16), and there is a sin not unto
death, v. 17.
(1.) There is a sin unto death. All sin, as to the merit and
legal sentence of it, is unto death. The wages of sin is
death; and cursed is every one that continueth not in all
things that are written in the book of the law, to do them,Gal. iii. 10. But there is a
sin unto death in opposition to such sin as is here said not to
be unto death. There is therefore, (2.) A sin not unto
death. This surely must include all such sin as by divine or
human constitution may consist with life; in the human constitution
with temporal or corporal life, in the divine constitution with
corporal or with spiritual evangelical life. [1.] There are sins
which, by human righteous constitution, are not unto death; as
divers pieces of injustice, which may be compensated without the
death of the delinquent. In opposition to this there are sins
which, by righteous constitution, are to death, or to a legal
forfeiture of life; such as we call capital crimes. [2.]
Then there are sins which, by divine constitution, are unto death;
and that either death corporal or spiritual and evangelical.
First, Such as are, or may be, to death corporal. Such may
the sins be either of gross hypocrites, as Ananias and Sapphira,
or, for aught we know, of sincere Christian brethren, as when the
apostle says of the offending members of the church of Corinth,
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many
sleep, 1 Cor. xi. 30.
There may be sin unto corporal death among those who may not be
condemned with the world. Such sin, I said, is, or may be, to
corporal death. The divine penal constitution in the gospel does
not positively and peremptorily threaten death to the more visible
sins of the members of Christ, but only some gospel-chastisement;
for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth, Heb. xii.
6. There is room left for divine wisdom or goodness, or
even gospel severity, to determine how far the chastisement or the
scourge shall proceed. And we cannot say but that sometimes it may
(in terrorem—for warning to others) proceed even to death.
Then, Secondly, There are sins which, by divine
constitution, are unto death spiritual and evangelical, that is,
are inconsistent with spiritual and evangelical life, with
spiritual life in the soul and with an evangelical right to life
above. Such are total impenitence and unbelief for the present.
Final impenitence and unbelief are infallibly to death eternal, as
also a blaspheming of the Spirit of God in the testimony that he
has given to Christ and his gospel, and a total apostasy from the
light and convictive evidence of the truth of the Christian
religion. These are sins involving the guilt of everlasting death.
Then comes,

IV. The application of the direction for
prayer according to the different sorts of sin thus distinguished.
The prayer is supposed to be for life: He shall ask, and he
(God) shall give them life. Life is to be asked of God. He
is the God of life; he gives it when and to whom he pleases, and
takes it away either by his constitution or providence, or both, as
he thinks meet. In the case of a brother's sin, which is not (in
the manner already mentioned) unto death, we may in faith and hope
pray for him; and particularly for the life of soul and body. But,
in case of the sin unto death in the forementioned ways, we have no
allowance to pray. Perhaps the apostle's expression, I do not
say, He shall pray for it, may intend no more than, "I have no
promise for you in that case; no foundation for the prayer of
faith." 1. The laws of punitive justice must be executed, for the
common safety and benefit of mankind: and even an offending brother
in such a case must be resigned to public justice (which in the
foundation of it is divine), and at the same time also to the mercy
of God. 2. The removal of evangelical penalties (as they may be
called), or the prevention of death (which may seem to be so
consequential upon, or inflicted for, some particular sin), can be
prayed for only conditionally or provisionally, that is, with
proviso that it consist with the wisdom, will, and glory of God
that they should be removed, and particularly such death prevented.
3. We cannot pray that the sins of the impenitent and unbelieving
should, while they are such, be forgiven them, or that any mercy of
life or soul, that suppose the forgiveness of sin, should be
granted to them, while they continue such. But we may pray for
their repentance (supposing them but in the common case of the
impenitent world), for their being enriched with faith in Christ,
and thereupon for all other saving mercies. 4. In case it should
appear that any have committed the irremissible blasphemy against
the Holy Ghost, and the total apostasy from the illuminating
convictive powers of the Christian religion, it should seem that
they are not to be prayed for at all. For what remains but a
certain fearful expectation of judgment, to consume such
adversaries? Heb. x.
27. And these last seem to be the sins chiefly intended
by the apostle by the name of sins unto death. Then, 5. The
apostle seems to argue that there is sin that is not unto death;
thus, All unrighteousness is sin (v. 17); but, were all unrighteousness
unto death (since we have all some unrighteousness towards God or
man, or both, in omitting and neglecting something that is their
due), then we were all peremptorily bound over to death, and, since
it is not so (the Christian brethren, generally speaking, having
right to life), there must be sin that is not to death. Though
there is no venial sin (in the common acceptation), there is
pardoned sin, sin that does not involve a plenary obligation to
eternal death. If it were not so, there could be no justification
nor continuance of the justified state. The gospel constitution or
covenant abbreviates, abridges, or rescinds the guilt of sin.

Privileges of Believers. (a.
d. 80.)

18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth
not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that
wicked one toucheth him not. 19 And we know that we
are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 20 And
we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him
that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true
God, and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves
from idols. Amen.

Here we have,

I. A recapitulation of the privileges and
advantages of sound Christian believers. 1. They are secured
against sin, against the fulness of its dominion or the fulness of
its guilt: We know that whosoever is born of God (and the
believer in Christ is born of God, v. 1) sinneth not (v. 18), sinneth not
with that fulness of heart and spirit that the unregenerate do (as
was said ch. iii. 6,
9), and consequently not with that fulness of guilt that
attends the sins of others; and so he is secured against that sin
which is unavoidably unto death, or which infallibly binds the
sinner over unto the wages of eternal death; the new nature, and
the inhabitation of the divine Spirit thereby, prevent the
admission of such unpardonable sin. 2. They are fortified against
the devil's destructive attempts: He that is begotten of God
keepeth himself, that is, is enabled to guard himself, and
the wicked one toucheth him not (v. 18), that is, that the wicked one
may not touch him, namely, to death. It seems not to be barely a
narration of the duty or the practice of the regenerate; but an
indication of their power by virtue of their regeneration. They are
thereby prepared and principled against the fatal touches, the
sting, of the wicked one; he touches not their souls, to infuse his
venom there a he does in others, or to expel that regenerative
principle which is an antidote to his poison, or to induce them to
that sin which by the gospel constitution conveys an indissoluble
obligation to eternal death. He may prevail too far with them, to
draw them to some acts of sin; but it seems to be the design of the
apostle to assert that their regeneration secures them from such
assaults of the devil as will bring them into the same case and
actual condemnation with the devil. 3. They are on God's side and
interest, in opposition to the state of the world: And we know
that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness,v. 19. Mankind are
divided into two great parties of dominions, that which belongs to
God and that which belongs to wickedness or to the wicked one. The
Christian believers belong to God. They are of God, and from him,
and to him, and for him. They succeed into the right and room of
the ancient Israel of God, of whom it is said, The Lord's people
is his portion, his estate in this world; Jacob is the lot
of his inheritance, the dividend that has fallen to him by the
lot of his own determination (Deut.
xxxii. 9); while, on the contrary, the whole
world, the rest, being by far the major part, lieth in
wickedness, in the jaws in the bowels of the wicked one. There
are, indeed, were we to consider the individuals, many wicked ones,
many wicked spirits, in the heavenly or the ethereal places; but
they are united in wicked nature, policy, and principle, and they
are united also in one head. There is the prince of the devils and
of the diabolical kingdom. There is a head of the malignity and of
the malignant world; and he has such sway here that he is called
the god of this world. Strange that such a knowing spirit
should be so implacably incensed against the Almighty and all his
interests, when he cannot but know that it must end in his own
overthrow and everlasting damnation! How tremendous is the judgment
of God upon that wicked one! May the God of the Christian world
continually demolish his dominion in this world, and translate
souls into the kingdom of his dear Son! 4. They are
enlightened in the knowledge of the true eternal God: "And we
know that the Son of God has come, and has given as an
understanding, that we may know him that is true, v. 20. The Son of God has come
into our world, and we have seen him, and know him by all the
evidence that has already been asserted; he has revealed unto us
the true God (as John i.
18), and he has opened our minds too to understand that
revelation, given us an internal light in our understandings,
whereby we may discern the glories of the true God; and we are
assured that it is the true God that he hath discovered to us. He
is infinitely superior in purity, power, and perfection, to all the
gods of the Gentiles. He has all the excellences, beauties, and
riches, of the living and true God. It is the same God that,
according to Moses's account, made the heavens and the earth, the
same who took our fathers and patriarchs into peculiar covenant
with himself, the same who brought our ancestors out of Egypt, who
gave us the fiery law upon mount Sinai, who gave us his holy
oracles, promised the call and conversion of the Gentiles. By his
counsels and works, by his love and grace, by his terrors and
judgments, we know that he, and he alone, in the fulness of his
being, is the living and true God." It is a great happiness to know
the true God, to know him in Christ; it is eternal lie, John xvii. 3. It is the glory of the
Christian revelation that it gives the best account of the true
God, and administers the best eye-salve for our discerning the
living and true God. 5. They have a happy union with God and his
Son: "And we are in him that is true, even (or and) in
his Son Jesus Christ, v.
20. The Son leads us to the Father, and we are in both,
in the love and favour of both, in covenant and federal alliance
with both, in spiritual conjunction with both by the inhabitation
and operation of their Spirit: and, that you may know how great a
dignity and felicity this is, you must remember that this true one
is the true God and eternal life" or rather (as it should
seem a more natural construction), "This same Son of God is himself
also the true God and eternal life" (John i. 1, and here, ch. i. 2), "so that in union with
either, much more with both, we are united to the true God and
eternal life." Then we have,

II. The apostle's concluding monition:
"Little children" (dear children, as it has been
interpreted), "keep yourselves from idols, v. 21. Since you know the true
God, and are in him, let your light and love guard you against all
that is advanced in opposition to him, or competition with him.
Flee from the false gods of the heathen world. They are not
comparable to the God whose you are and whom you serve. Adore not
your God by statues and images, which share in his worship. Your
God is an incomprehensible Spirit, and is disgraced by such sordid
representations. Hold no communion with your heathen neighbours in
their idolatrous worship. Your God is jealous, and would have you
come out, and be separated from among them; mortify the flesh, and
be crucified to the world, that they may not usurp the throne of
dominion in the heart, which is due only to God. The God whom you
have known is he who made you, who redeemed you by his Son, who has
sent his gospel to you, who has pardoned your sins, begotten you
unto himself by his Spirit, and given you eternal life. Cleave to
him in faith, and love, and constant obedience, in opposition to
all things that would alienate your mind and heart from God. To
this living and true God be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen."